Weekend Diversion: Night Of The Ponies
Pedway, First Store Open At Block 37
Around Town
Red-Light Cameras Not So Special?
The same day John Kass shined a light on some shenanigans Chicago aviation chief and longtime Daley ally David Ochal pulled during the recent storm, Ochal decided to call it quits. The brouhaha arose because Kass discovered Ochal had used his clout to get an O'Hare ComEd crew to deliver a generator to his house on the Far Northwest Side while his neighbors sat in the dark. Obviously they were not amused by the glowing beacon of light on their pitch-black block, and tipped off the Tribune.
This is not the first time Ochal has had a run in with Kass or his neighbors. Back in 2000, Kass reported that Ochal had installed an in-ground pool in his backyard without a permit, which proceeded to leak, flood the neighbors' yards, and blow up a ComEd transformer -- hence the nickname "Pool Boy". Kass also hinted that the pool may have been built on the taxpayers' dime -- requests for canceled checks proving Ochal paid for it out of his own pocket have been denied. [Trib; photo by Gabriel Robledo]
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
John Kass is like unto a god to me. He's one of the only columnists in Chicago who hasn't been defanged. Good on you John!
I agree, Albany, I loved his article on friday.
I know we have to take our victories where we can get them, but I also don't think for a minute that he walked away harmed. As Kass speculated, he probably got quite the parting gift.
Yes.
Kass is an a**hole. Always has been. He's one of those busy-body conservatives who thinks he has the right to know everything about every single aspect of everyone else's personal life, just because they have a "government" job (or, as Kass so snidely puts it, because they're paid "in taxpayer dollars."
This is the same sort of mentality that leads his ilk to demand to know (and pretend to get all indignant about) exactly how much money every school teacher, fireman, etc. makes, as if it's any of his business.
How about if Kass starts printing his salary and copies of his tax return--as well as a complete, detailed listing of all the free "promotional items" he receives throughout the year at the Tribune--on line for everyone else to see? Oh right. That's personal information. Sorry.
why would you put government job in quotes? is governement some kind of slang term or something? teachers, firemen, etc. DO get paid with taxpayer's dollars and their salaries should be made public. it's everyone's business what these people make. kass works for a private company and it's none of anyone's business, except the tribune company, how much he gets paid. this concept doesn't seem the least bit complicated but apparently it is to some people
Kass IS an prick. I've never liked the guy. He's working on the same level of intellect as Jay Mariotti. Not to mention its a disgrace the Trib has him as one of their lead writers, and yet the dude lives out in the bubrbs and couldnt be more out of touch with city life. With all that said, it was one of the few columns by him that i took pleasure in reading.
All the rage, cursing and spelling errors indicate that the city employees have arrived.
Welcome loafers!
Albany: I've no doubt that there are plenty of city and county workers that leave apologetic comments on this site. I remember WOW, the lurker that would defend the Stroger clan during the county board race on every news blog, including this one.
That said, I think John Kass is a jag, and there's a piece of me that's deeply offended when he writes one of his self-serving columns on city corruption from his comfortable suburban life. It's good to have crusading journalists, but I really feel like he has no place trying to whip up sentiment against Chicago politicians when he doesn't have a stake in the community here, except to collect a paycheck from one of the city's newspapers.
Bull. I'm not a city or government employee, but the only people who should give even a second thought about what, say, a school teacher makes is the school board, the principal, the school teacher herself, and her family. They're not working for you. You aren't in a position to judge their work, their accomplishments, their experience, or their skill level. Ergo, you're in no position whatsoever to be able to pass judgement on whatever they are able to negotiate as a salary. I wouldn't expect random uninformed people off the street to judge my work and subsequent salary level. Neither should anyone else, regardless of their place of employment. This concept doesn't seem the least bit complicated, but apparently it is to some people.
Oh, and the answer the earlier question: the reason I put "government" in quotes is because that's a right-wing buzz word for anything they don't like. Government schools, government hospitals, government blah blah blah. It's some paranoid pathological fear of anything that's done for the greater good of society.
I can't think of one single person who would consider (again, to use my earlier example) a school teacher as working for the "government," outside of these rabid conservative types who think everything is their business to judge, and who seem to resent anyone drawing a paycheck from funds which have any connection to the public.
The sense of entitlement some people have is utterly shocking.
Just to further sully the man's name, I'd like to point out that Ochal used to work for Helen Shiller. Shudder.
John Kass lives in Cook County, he is personally impacted by Daley and his puppets in county government as much as anyone living within the city limits. Anyone who has a problem with Kass going after fat political hacks (City Workers) is either one themself or married to one.
Good for Kass. If he wasn't bringing these issues to the public's attention, who would?
but I really feel like he has no place trying to whip up sentiment against Chicago politicians when he doesn't have a stake in the community here, except to collect a paycheck from one of the city's newspapers.
So, if one lives in the burbs, one should not complain about the city? Interesting. And you seem to think it is evil for someone to actually get paid for doing a job. Odd from a self-described labor guy. No, I don't like Kass all the time, but your argument seems more emotional than logical, and rather flimsy.
Oprah: Wrong on all counts. First, taxpayers have a right--and it is a right, under law--to know how their tax dollars are being spent, including for salaries. And we have a right to judge how the workers being paid with our many, many dimes are doing their jobs. And teachers in public schools are government workers--they get paid with tax dollars, including property taxes. This is not a right-wing vs left-wing thing, but simple reality. I urge you to take a refresher civics course. What is shocking (to use your term) is how some people, when commenting, betray a basic ignorance of civics.
Oprah: One final thing about public schools. They are overseen by school boards, the members of which, in the vast majority of cases, are directly elected by citizens who live in the school district, which essentiallly functions as a taxing district. School boards generally hire and fire the main school leaders--the superintendents and, in some cases, the principals--and set the general direction for the schools that are part of the school district. See--it's a government. Really, it is. And because of the US tendency toward local control of education, we have a lot of school districts and school boards--that is, school governments.
And don't tell me what your buddies think about whether teachers are goverment workers. What people think doesn't always make a fact. I would urge your sources to embrace civics as well.
Coming in to work on Damen I see the city workers at the Brown line stop. It's 9am, their feet are up, smoke break, coolers open. Hard day. One guy is directing traffic, though there's no actual work being done. Further up Damen at Lawrence there's a crew of about eight guys staring into a hole. Half of them head to the back of the truck to loaf about and wait for a supervisor to show up, or lunch to arrive or both.
The city is filled with this kind of worker. Guys who know a guy. They got good with an alderman, their brother works for a guy who's in good with Daley. Lazy, shiftless bums who take 10 days to fill a pothole and need a crew of ten guys to change a light-bulb.
Kass gets on his high horse, sure. But someone needs to. What other columnist is showing any spine? Roeper's too in love with his own reflection, Mary Mitchell is too busy turning mountains into molehills, Mark Brown? Neil Steinberg? Eric Zorn?
I want the fourth estate to go for the jugular on politicians, early and often, on issues of corruption. I could care less about sex scandals and out of wedlock babies, give the these criminals heads on a platter.